Implicit aesthetic processing and emotional priming: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study on artistic and nonartistic stimuli

Several studies have suggested that engaging with art can promote well-being among individuals, even when artworks convey cruel or brutal emotional content. In this study, our aim was to investigate how the implicit processing of artistic versus nonartistic images conveying positive, neutral or negative emotions, influences the subsequent affective processing of a neutral stimulus. Twenty-two art-naïve participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging scans while using a Self-Assessment Manikin scale to rate the liking and arousal of emotionally neutral Chinese pictograms (targets) that followed the brief presentation of emotionally valenced artistic or nonartistic images (primes). An adapted version of the affective misattribution task was used to assess the impact of the emotional primes on the judgment of the neutral targets. Behaviorally, the results indicated that priming by images with positive valence led to higher pleasure judgments of the Chinese pictograms compared to neutral and negative prime images. Imaging data revealed that the implicit processing of artistic images, as opposed to nonartistic ones, was associated with the activation of the left caudate. Negative primes induced the activation of the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. The type of prime (artistic vs. nonartistic) did not exert any significant modulation of the effect of emotional valence. However, when considering subjective behavioral ratings, negative emotional valence conveyed by artistic primes was found to modulate activity in occipital areas. Our findings suggest that art is effective in regulating the intensity of negative emotions and can be a valuable tool for emotional engagement in different settings.